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Energy gets new CIO, loses CHCO to retirement

The Energy Department hired a familiar face to be its new chief information
officer. Robert Brese, the acting CIO since Mike
Locatis left in April to be the assistant secretary for cybersecurity and
communications at the Homeland Security Department, received the nod to be the
permanent CIO from Secretary Steven Chu.

As Brese takes over, Energy is losing its chief human capital officer. Mike Kane
will retire after more than 30 years in federal service.

Robert Brese, new Energy CIO (Photo:CIO.gov)

Chu announced these and other personnel changes in an email to staff Monday.

Brese officially loses the acting title July 1. He has been deputy
CIO since December 2010.

Before that, he served as the deputy CIO for IT at the National Nuclear Security
Administration for about three years and as NNSA's director of security program
evaluation for defense nuclear security.

He served for 22 years as a Naval officer before retiring in 2006 as a commander.

Kane leaves Energy after spending his entire career in the government. Deputy CHCO
Sarah Bonilla will become acting CHCO in the interim.

"Sarah brings a wealth of experience in human resources management through her
experience both at DOE and at the Department of the Air Force," Chu wrote in his
email. "Mike has been invaluable to the Department in selecting, developing,
training and managing a highly skilled, productive and diverse workforce in
accordance with statutory requirements."

Kane received the 2011 CHCO of the Year award for his effort to reduce the
hiring time across the department. Through his leadership, Energy reduced the time
to hire to 100 days in 2011 from 175 days in 2009. The department's goal is 80
days by 2013.

Along with those two moves, Energy's deputy CFO Owen Barwell left government to
become the director of Grant Thornton's Public Sector in May. Chu said Barwell has
been temporarily replaced by Joanne Choi, who previously served as the director of
finance and accounting within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

"In every leadership transition, there is an opportunity to celebrate the
impressive accomplishments of departing members of the team," Chu wrote. "While we
will miss their leadership, we are fortunate to have talented and experienced
individuals to assume their responsibilities as they move on."